Residents concerned over township gun ordinance study

Firing a gun continues to be a passionately debated issue in Middle Smithfield Township.

Wayne Witkowski

Firing a gun continues to be a passionately debated issue in Middle Smithfield Township.

The township Board of Supervisors authorized township attorney Michael Gaul to check into the existing ordinance for discharging arms, which they said should involve only the three parks in the township. The supervisors took that action when resident Richard Kowalski expressed concern after three men shooting in target practice fired one bullet or pellet at a window at Resica Elementary School last year. The incident put the school in lockdown for a while. State police investigated and did not charge the shooter.

Kowalski had asked if there is a law requiring a backstop for target practice. Gaul responded he needed to check that and said that although guns cannot be banned for hunting under the state Fish and Game Commission and under the township ordinance, he had to check whether target practice is allowed by the commission.

Supervisor Mike Dwyer responded to residents who felt their Second Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution may be violated if an ordinance banning guns throughout the township is passed.

"This is getting sensational. We're not talking about banning guns, but just studying the ordinance," said Dwyer. "There's not going to be anything drastic here. We're just taking input after a lot of emotions and phone calls."

Township resident Al Kays said that he has been a marksman in the past and is knowledgeable about handling guns. He said the accident involving Resica Elementary was "careless" and that residents in general should not suffer from a mistake by one person.

John Davis also cited his constitutional right to bear arms and his concerns that it is in jeopardy.

Also at the meeting, Dwyer said there will be a forum for private communities in the township from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday at the Country Club of the Poconos Whispering Pines Banquet Hall. Township Emergency Management Coordinator John Ferro will talk, as will Pat Calpin, a consultant for recycling and either Jim Lambert or his representative for Monroe County Municipal Waste Authority.

A midyear township review will be presented as well as a discussion on communications in emergency situations and a presentation on road paving is tentatively scheduled.

In other news, the township passed an amendment to the flood plain ordinance establishing April 3 as the cutoff date for filing new paperwork. Anything before that time falls under the old ordinance. ... With Wayne Rohner dismissed as zoning officer at the last meeting, secondary zoning authority Building Inspection Underwriters is taking over those duties. ... Joan Woisen has been appointed the Right to Know officer, a position held previously by township Secretary Michele Clewell that involves the release of certain township documents on request.

Dwyer said he attended two weeks earlier a meeting with PPL representatives who showed plans they were working on for power outages from storm damage. ... Day in the Park will be revived in the township for Sept. 21 at Echo Lake Park. ... Middle Smithfield recently received an $87,513.34 reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for damages suffered from Hurricane Sandy in October. ... Asphalt Maintenance Solutions contractor was the low bidder at $94,325.64 for seal coating Hidden Lake Road, but Dwyer said the township will not exercise its option for Coolbaugh Road.

Historical Commission Chairman Steve Kulick said in his report that meteorologist Ben Gelber, who worked for many years in the Poconos and is adept on weather systems in the area, will talk about the flood of 1955 at a meeting in August. Kulik said Memory Makers will hold its annual meeting Sept. 15, probably at Fernwood Hotel and Conference Center. ... Debbie Kulick of the Economic Development Committee said in her report her group met with commercial real estate leader Michael Baxter, representing the Pocono Mountains Economic Development Corp. to discuss the needs of businesses seeking to locate to places such as Middle Smithfield. She said the committee is preparing for two seminars, one in August to address the new health-care reform act and its effects on small and medium businesses, the other in October on social media in business.

The next Board of Supervisors meeting is scheduled for June 27, with others following July 11 and 25 and Aug. 8 and 22.